@alabamadad , is your daughter a NMF? I am curious. What a terrific decision!
No, she went the ACT route
I must say now that I have donned my Alabama hat and put away my Yale and Princeton hats (except for working in the yard), I am getting many random āRoll Tideā comments from people in California. My daughter is very excited and will not miss the winters of the Northeast. She is starting either 5 to 10 credits shy of being a Junior, so she is REALLY pumped about that!
@AlabamaDad
May I ask how many schools you visited before your daughter settled on Alabama? What sold it for her? What is she studying? Perhaps I should take this to Private Message !
Oops
Daughter passed on UIUC, Purdue,School of Mines, Georgia Tech. Accepted MechE @ all schools but choose UA because of German Exchange program w/Benz and Color Guard.
DS passed UVA, W&M and OU. UA is best forNMFs
My older son (sophomore now) passed on Univ MD/College Park, Virginia Tech, Clemson, University of Colorado Heās studying engineering and honestly I was a bit concernedā¦hard to ignore the rankings in US World Articles, etc. BUT, I have to say he LOVES UA. I keep waiting for something negative to happen and instead every single time I have contact with this school the response is super friendly, professional and they truly go beyond my expectations in answering questions. One day I called the postal office about a missing package and 10 mins later got a call from the head of the department who had stopped at a rest stop on her vacation to get back to me! I was stunned. Turns out, the package was ālostā in my sonās dorm room. Grrrā¦
He also just got hired for his first co-op position, which I think is a big plus when looking to a future in engineering.
We had never even visited the South before attend the Capstone Scholars Day, never thought weād be heading that direction. An old college buddy of mine told me about UA and we just figured it would be a back-up. I sent that friend a nice gift after the fact as her comment ended up saving us a bundle!
If you are like me and know only what youāve heard or seen about Southern life from TV or historical reports, please take a trip down and see what itās really like now. I had some negative pre-conceived notions and now have a new respect and love for Tuscaloosa. 
Super, hard working, smart, professional folks. Roll Tide!
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My daughter visited Alabama the summer of 2017 and could absolutely see herself there! Her top two choices are Alabama (got to in state TX tuition with $19 scholarship) & Pepperdine (need large scholarship) as of nowā¦She is also considering Arkansas (depending on scholarship) and UT (still waiting for decision). She has been accepted into Texas A&M, Colorado School of Mines, Ole Miss & Baylor, but is passing all of those. We live north of Houston. Thoughts? She is looking to combine engineering with a business minor. Will need to decide this upcoming spring!
Right now Iām considering University of Pittsburgh, Penn State, and Bama. Passing on ASU Barrett and Grand Valley (small in-state college that was my safety). Iām touring Bama next week and Penn State in February. I went to Pitt last year and loved itā the city and the college! But Alabamaās merit package and honors college are appealing, plus a lot of people on these threads speak very highly of it. We shall see 
I watched the Alabama vs. Clemson game and my daughter is already a fanatic football fan, caught the family off guard. She loves everything about her experienceā¦atmosphere, friends (not in a sorority), academics, weather, and football. She has not thought twice about choosing Alabama over Princeton or Yale. Loves her suite style dorm. Feel free to ask any questions. Also, being able to use her AP course credits and starting school as a Junior has really opened up a lot of academic opportunities for her. Roll Tide! Lots of out state kids at Alabama.
My son thinks he would like to attend Alabama. We are from Illinois so it seems so far away. Ole Miss gave him a better merit scholarship but he wont consider it. He is passing up Auburn, University of Illinois, Clemson and Ole Miss. I am excited to hear all of the positive feedback on this site. I hope the honors college is worth the trip. He really is sold on the suite style dorms. I hope he gets into one for sure. Thanks for all the info.
@worriedmommaof2 it may seem far away, but he might feel right at home. I know of at least 3 in my sonās circle of friends/suitemates who are from IL!
@worriedmommaof2, Illinois loses a HUGE chunk of students to public schools in other states:
Thereās a reason a lot of folks joke that UA is another campus in the UI system - a large number of Illinois students are at Bama. And itās a lot closer to home for them than it is students coming from the northeast or far west.
Did your son visit those other schools before ruling them out? Personally, I think itās good to compare what each school has to offer, assuming itās affordable. Thereās no one right school for everybody and it helps make the best āfitā stand out.
Good luck in his decision!
This has an interesting map of the flow of students.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/08/26/us/college-student-migration.html
I will be a freshman at bama in the fall of 2018, some big names I passed up on are University of Michigan, University of Pittsburgh, Michigan State University, Miami University, Fordham University, and the University of Tennessee. Beyond excited with my decision!!
Hi thereā¦ my son also may be passing on some very reputable eng. schools to attend U Alabama and interested in that exact program. (Benz in Germany). Would you mind sharing if your daughter will actually be participating that program and is it as easy to get accepted as I heard when we visited U of A? thank you in advance.
We are from Indiana and my son will be attending UA in the fall to study business and computer science. He is a National Merit Finalist and we will benefit from the tremendous NMF scholarship package offered at UA. He didnāt want to visit at first but since there are over 20 students from his HS currently at UA, he decided to give the Capstone a look. He was totally impressed by the campus, the honors dorm, and the overall hospitality. UA fell off his radar when he changed his potential major to Industrial Engineering, which is not offered at UA, but came back onto his radar when he learned that he could major in both Operations Management (Culverhouse) and Computer Science (Engineering). This is not an option at many schools. He also really liked Auburn, Georgia Tech and Lehigh but their financial aid was disappointing and I pushed him towards Oklahoma and their fine NMF program. He liked OU but it just didnāt excite him like Alabama. Our local state school (Purdue) offered NO merit aid to him and rejected him from their honors college (only school which denied him honors). That just pissed him off! He will turn down full rides from Texas Tech, Mississippi State and Central Florida plus strong scholarship packages from Baylor, SMU, Louisville, Ohio U, Miami (OH), Montana State, Kansas State, and Rhode Island.
My daughter turned down an Ivy to attend. The amount of scholarship and the atmosphere is what sold her on the school. We are very happy with her decision.
The only correct answer to this thread is: Auburn.